Originally, golf carts and similar recreational vehicles are built with open sides allowing the occupants to be adversely affected by the weather. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,776,445 to Conner et al., additional side clearance is required for the doors to open or close. There is also the possibility of the wind catching the door when opening and closing the doors or when the golf cart or vehicle is in motion if the doors are not properly secured. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,979,040 to Brewer, Jr., the enclosure offers limited protection to occupants due to panels that do not go all the way to the bottom of the cart and are not secured on the leading or trailing side edges. In U.S. Pat. No. 8,356,855 to Sams, significant modification of the golf cart is required as you must replace the OEM factory roof and add additional weight and height to the uppermost point of the golf cart with this enclosure.
There are many configurations of golf cart enclosures used on golf carts. Many require manually rolling and unrolling of the enclosures, using zippers and snaps to secure the enclosures which is time consuming. Thus there exists a need for a retractable enclosure for golf carts and similar recreational vehicles that is readily and easily deployable with little effort.